Glass banding machine



June 30, 1936.

, J. c; E. SCHWAB ETAL 2,045,876

GLASS BANDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 2, 1955 A. Q .Mw Sr..

John.. Cf EASE/aval? IIabar/) Week? June 30, 1936. J. c. E. SCHWAB ET'AL2,045,876

y GLASS BANDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 2, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet /2 31a/vanto@@me u2/wah vari M Weder Mrs-fm Patented June 30, 1936 nUNITED STATESl lGLASS BANDING MACHINE John C. E. Schwab and Hobart M. Wheeler,Clarksburg, W. Va., assignors to Hazel-Atlas, Glass Company, Wheeling,W. Va., a corporation of West Virginia Application October 2, 1933,Serial No. 691,838

7 Claims.

'Ihe invention relates to the decoration of tumblers and other glassarticles, and particularly to the painting of colored bands thereon.

Heretofore the general practice has been to apply by hand painted bandsto tumblers and other glass articles. This hand practice is necessarilyslow and expensive, and also irregularities naturally occur in the bandswhen thus applied. The object of the present invention is to provide asimple apparatus by which the bands will be automatically painted on theglass articles, whereby the operation will not only be performed quicklyand inexpensively, but alsothe paint will be applied more regularly thanhas been possible with hand operations.

Various objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art from the following detailed description whentaken in` connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus; certain parts beingomitted for the sake of clearness; and,

Figure 2 is a side elevational view ofone of the units; parts being insection and parts being broken away to more clearly illustrate theconstruction. I

Referring to the drawings in more detail, numeral I indicates a framewhich supports the various parts of the machine. In the specic formillustrated the apparatus is driven by a motor 2 carried by the frame.The motor shaft is coupled with a shaft 3 mounted in suitable bearingscarried by the frame. This shaft carries a worm gear which, throughappropriate gearing, causes rotation of the chuck or vacuum cup 5 in thedirection of the arrow. 1 This cup or chuck il is in constantcommunication with any desired source vof vacuum (not shown) by a pipe6'. The tumbler or other article to be decorated, indicated by numerall, is placed in the chuck by' hand and is maintained there byY thevacuum during the decorating operation.

Numeral 8 refers to a fixed shaft which is to the rear and above thearticle to be decorated. In the specific form illustrated' this shaft iscarried by a bracket 9. A number of arms I0 are pivotally mounted on theshaft t. Three of these arms are shown in the drawings, but of coursethe number of arms will depend upon the number of bands`to be applied tothe glass article.

As stated above the arms I0 are pivotally l mounted on the shaft 8, sothat they are freeto be swung toward and from the article tofbedecorated,` but it is also desirable to adjust these arms along theshaft to properly position the bands on the article. Any desired meansmay be employed for this purpose, but in the preferred form illustratedthe arms are provided with forked upper ends Il through which the 5shaft 8 passes, and between the prongs of each fork is a lug I2 which isadjustable along the shaft by means of a set screw I3.

Mounted on the lower end of each of the arms I0 is an individual paintreservoir I4. The means 10 for supplying paint to these reservoirs willbe described hereinafter. A paint applying roller l5 is also carried byeach of these arms; the rollers being free to --rotate through the paintin the reservoirs and to be brought into contact with 15 the glassarticle when desired. The lower ends of the arms I0 are normally urgedtoward the glass article by springs I6; and it will be understood thatas the arms are independent oi' each other, each roller I5 may moveinwardly a dii- 2l ferent distance, until each roller contacts with thetumbler or other article to be decorated, so that the rollers willcontact with the article whatever the contour of the article may be.

In the specific form illustrated the rollers con- 25 tact with thearticle at the side thereof. In the event that a large number of bandsare to be applied to the article, it is desirable to employ two sets ofthe paint-applying rollers to contact with the article at differentpoints, and the rollers 30 of the two sets being staggered. For thispurpose a second xed shaft^ is provided, as indicated by numeral- II,and the desired number of arms I8, similar tc the hereinbefore describedarms it, are pivotally mounted on this shaft. 35 These arms areindividually adjustable longitudinally of theshaft by the same means asdescribed in connection with the yarms It, and the lower ends oi thearms are normally urged toward the glass article to be decorated bymeans 40 of springs I9. It will be noted however that the E arms I@instead of being substantially straight `like the arms It are somewhatL-shaped, `so that the rollers l5 oi the arms It contact with the thearms I0, and the rod 22 being in the rear of lugs 23 which projectupwardly from the arms The frame is provided .with an operating lever2li, and it will bev noted that when this lever 55 the paint to thearticle.

is moved downwardly the rods 2I and 22 will cause both sets of arms tobe moved away from the article, for the purpose of removing thepaint-applying rollers from lcontact with the article. When the operatorreleases the lever 24 the spring 25 will swing the frame back to theposition shown in Figure 1, thereby permitting the springs I6 and I9 tomove the arms forwardly to bring the rollers into contact with thearticle. At times it is desirable to keep the arms and rollers in theirinoperative or-withdrawn position without the necessity of the operatorholding the lever 24 down. For this purpose a lug 26 is slidably mountedon the shafts 8. and I1. The lever 24 having been lowered, the lug 26'is moved to the left (Fig. 1) until it comes under the framelll` Thelever may now be released and the lug 26 will hold the frame 20 carryingVthe rods 2I and 22 in such position that the arms I0 and I8 will bemaintained in their withdrawn positions. f

The paint-applying apparatus carried by the arms I0 and I 8 will now bedescribed; it being understood that this apparatus is identical onl allthe arms, except that the thickness of the rollers may vary according tothe widths of the various bands to be applied, and the angular positionof th'e rollers may also vary. A description of one of the units will besufficient, and in 'connection with this description reference is to behad particularly to Figure 2. In the specific form shown a short pipesection 21 is adjustably clamped to each arm. Attached to the lower endof the pipe section is the individual reservoir I4, and attached to theupper end of the pipe section is a flexible hose for supplying paint tothe reservoir. In the bottom of the reservoir there is an outlet passage28 through which unused paint is exhausted and flows back to theoriginal source of paint, as will be described hereinafter.v

The rollers I5 are mounted for free rotation on the lower ends of thearms. The rollers are rotated through contact with the article beingdecorated, and as they rotate theytravel through the paint in theindividual reservoirs and apply A wiper finger 29 is preferably providedto remove excess paint from the rollers. The depth of the rollers in thereservoirs can be adjusted by adjusting up or down the pipe sections 21which carry the reservoirs.

The means for supplying the paint to the individual reservoirs will nowbe described, reference being had to Figs. 1 and 2. Numeral 30 refers tothe paint pots, of which in this particular machine there are three.These pots are charged with paint from time to time through the fillingnozzles 3I, which are threaded in elbows 32 formed in the plate 33. Thepaint flows through these elbows into the top of the paint pots. 0fcourse the paint in these pots 4may be of the same or of differentcolors or shades. The pots are preferably removably attached to theunderside of the plate 33. The specific attaching means shown consistsof lugs 34 which are slidably mounted on pins 35 fixed to the plate 33;the lugs being forced upwardly by springs 36.- The top of each potisprovided with a ange 31 which is interrupted at points to permit thepassage of the lugs 34. To remove a pot it-is only necessary to rotateit until the cut-out portions of the flange align with the lugs 34.

When the pot is returned to its position thesprings 36 win hold it uptight against the underside of the plate 33.

Numeral 38 refers to bevel gears keyed to the f shaft 3. These bevelgears mesh with bevel gears 39 fixed to shafts 40 which projectdownwardly into the paint pots 30. Pinned or otherwise secured to thelower end of each of the shafts 40 is a disc 4I from which a number offingers 42 project downwardly. Through the mechanism described the motor2 which rotates the article to be decorated also rotates the discs 4Iand the fingers 42 carried thereby. Thev rotation of the discs andfingers causes a continuous stirring of the paint, keeping it properlymixed and of a uniform character throughout.

The fingers 42 have another function in addition to stirring the paint,in that they act as a coupling or clutch for driving the pumps whichforce the paint through the system. In the bottom of each of the paintpots is an ordinary rotating eccentric pump 43. The upwardly extendingshaft of the pump is referred to by numeral 44, and the upper end of theshaft carries a disc 45. This disc is provided with any suitableopenings, such as indicated by numeral 46, for receiving the fingers 42.Thus when the paint pots are mounted in position the pumps are coupledwith the shafts 40 which are continuously rotated by the motor 2;v andthis coupling also permits the paint pots to be quickly removed.

- From the foregoing description it will be noted that in this specificmechanism the motor 2 rotates the article to be decorated, and alsooperates the stirring devices and the pumps, but it will be understoodof course that any desired means may be employed for operating these'several parts.

The pump 43 forces the paint through a pipe 41 lup to a header 48 whichis mounted upon the upper end of a pipe 49. Within the header is a valveseat 50 with which the valve head 5I cooperates; the valve head beingpreferably provided with a number of apertures 52. A number of pipes 53lead from each of the headers to various individual reservoirs I4, eachof such pipes being provided with a valve 54. In Figure 2 only one ofthese pipes'is shown, but several are shown in Figure l, and it will beunderstood that as many of the pipes as desired may be employed; andwhich ones of them are to be connected up with the individual reservoirswill depend upon the number of bands to be applied, how many of thebands will be of the same color, etc. When the valve head 5I is lifted,as shown in Figure 2, land the valves 54 are open, the paint will flowthrough the pipes 53 to the individual reservoirs, and from thereservoir through pipes 55 back to the pump. Thus a continuous flow ofpaint through the reservoir is maintained. 'I'he volume of paint flowinginto the pipes 53 may be regulated to some extent by the adjustment ofthe valve head 5I, and the' volume fiowing through each of the pipes 53to the reservoirs may be regulated by the valves 54, and the volumeflowing back to the pump through the pipes 55 may be regulated by thevalves 56. In the specific form illustrated the pipes 55 lead to amanifold 51 and from the manifold a pipe 58 leads back to the pump,though of course each of the several pipes 55 could lead back directlyto the pump if preferred.

If more paint is pumped to the headers 48 4than is delivered from theheaders to the indibefore; valves being provided to r For this purposea` by-pass pipe I9 is provided.

to the header and .thence to the individual res-- ervoir andl thenbackto the pump, only one of the systems has been described, but theremay be any desired number of the systems, three of them being shown inthe particular apparatus' illustrated. The description of one of thesystems or' units is suilicient as they are all identical inconstruction.

The functions of the various parts have been described in connectionwith the descrlptionof the apparatus, and therefore a very briefdescription of the operation will sumce. The motor, or other drivingmeans, rotates the chuck, and when the tumbler or other article to bedecorated is placed by hand in the chuck it is held there by vacuum. Themotor also drives the stirrers l2 and the pumps d3 in the paint pots 30.When the apparatusis in operation the valve heads 5l are open and thepumps force the paint from the pots to the headers 48, from which thepaint ows to the desired individual reservoirs I4 and thenceback to thepumps vas descril1 herein..

flow to and from the individual reservoirs. 'I'he paint being inproperlconditiom and the flow having been properly regulated, and thereservoirs having been adjusted to bring the rollers I5 to the desireddepth in the reservoirs, the device is ready for decorating thearticles. Having placed an article in the chuck 5, the operator movesthe lug 26 to the `right (Fig. 1) thereby permittingthe springs to movethe arms toward the article, bringing the rollers into contacttherewith. 'I'he rollers come into contact'with the article whatever itscontour may be, for each arm is movable independently, and hence eacharm will move inwardly under the pressure of its ,spring until itsroller contacts with the article to be decoratedl L The article isrotating when the paint-applyl ing rollers contact with it, and thiscausesthe rotation of the rollers. The rollers gather paint 'as they tumthrough' the body of paint 1n the individual reservoirs and apply thispaint to the article in the form of bands. Only a very `iew turns of thearticle are necessary to complete the decoration, and the operator nowdepresses the lever 24 to move-the rollers away from the article,removes the article from the chuck, re-A A places it with anotherarticle, and then lifts the lever 24' or permits the spring 25 to lii'tit to again bring the rollers into operation, thus starting anothercycle. 'Ihe number of arms employed will depend upon the number of bandsto be applied to xthe article; and of course `the arrangement of thebands may be varied at will to produce any desired effect. v

While we have described in detail the preferred construction, it will beunderstood that various changes and modifications may he made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, and

all such changes and modiications are intended to be included within thescope oi the appended claims.

' ate the i What we claim is:

1.' An apparatus for painting` bands on tapered glass articles,including a'plurality of pivotally mounted arms, a roller and anindividual reservoir carried by each arm, means for continuouslysupplying paint toL the individual reservoirs. means individual to eacharm for independently moving the arms diierent distances toward thetapered glass article, and means common to all the arms for moving theoarms away from the article.

' 2. An apparatus for painting bands on glass articles, including aplurality of pivotally mounted arms, a roller and an individualreservoir carried by each arm, means for continuously supplying paint tothe individual reservoirs, means individual to each arm for moving thearms toward the article, means common to all the arms for moving thearms to inoperative position, and means for locking the arms ininoperative position. y r 4 3. An apparatus for painting bands onarticles, including av series of arms, a roller and an individualreservoir carried by each arm,'a second series ofv arms, a roller and anindividual reservoir carried by each of the'arms of the second series,and the arms oi' the two series being arranged in staggered relation.

4. An an apparatus for .painting bands on glass articles, including aseries of arms, Aa roller and an individual reservoir carried by eacharm, a second series of arms, aroller and an individual reservoircarried by each ofthe arms of the second series, the arms of the twoseries being arranged in staggered relation, means individual to thearms of both series for moving the arms in- ,dependently toward thearticle and means common to the arms of both series'for moving them toinoperative position.

5. An' apparatus for painting bands on. glass articles, including aplurality of rollers and reservoirs individual to each roller, resilientmeans for bodily moving each lroller and reservoir t0- ward the article,means for continuously supplying paint to the individual reservoirs,means -for continuouslyreturning paint from the reser- "voirs to thesource of paint, and valves for regulating the volume ofv paint nowingthrough each individual reservoir. s

6. An apparatus for painting bands on glass articles, including aplurality of rollers and reservoirs individual to each r'oller,-resilient means for bodily moving each roller and reservoir to` ward thearticlea paint pot, a header, a pump continuously supplying paint fromthe pot to the header, deliverylines leading from the header to aplurality -of the individualreservoirs, and the valves for regulatingthe volume @of paint owing through each individual reservoir.

7. An apparatus for. painting bands on glass articles, including areservoir and a roller, means for moving the reservoir and roller towardthe article,l a paint pot, a header, a pump continuously supplyingpaintfrom the pot to the header, a delivery line-leading from the headerto the reservoir, la return line leading from the reser voir to thepaint pot, and an overow line leading from the header back to the paintpot.

JOHN C. E. SCHWAB.` HOBART M. WHEELER.'

